"I have come to believe that a great teacher is a great artist, and that there are as few as there are any other great artists. Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit." ~ John Steinbeck

Like Steinbeck, I view teaching as an art. I think to be good at it, one must continually craft and retool lessons, find new ways of presenting, new ways of engaging the kids, and new ways of seeking and giving feedback to our students. Like any art, there is no "one ring to rule them all" approach that works every time. To that end, I believe a good teacher must also be an entertainer. In design, I teach that good graphic design should "attract the attention of your target audience." Teachers must be able to attract the attention of our students, but more importantly, we must be able to hold their attention. That is why I think of myself as a teacher, an artist and an entertainer.

Beyond that, I have many hobbies that I love to pursue. Whenever possible, I employ them in my classroom to help connect with my students. The following showcase is a glimpse at some of my favorite hobbies.

When I was 8, my mom started a small desktop publishing company. While the business did not prosper, my mom gave me direct access to her Mac Classic and all of her design software long before most people knew what a personal computer was. Today, really I love graphic arts. I enjoy Photoshop, Illustrator and ProCreate on my iPad Pro with the Apple Pencil. The Scooby Doo image above was one of my first iPad creations and the Shanghai background represents my present day home.

I don't profess to be an amazing photographer, but I do think I'm pretty good. I love to shoot people, animals, land scape, macro shots, and just about everything else. I particularly enjoy shooting my travel buddy, Spiderman. Check out the images below. He's traveled with me all around the USA to Disney World, Mesa Verde, Carlsbad Caverns and more. He's also been to Taiwan, Moscow, China and Japan. Beyond Spiderman, I also enjoy taking long exposure shots and making light graffiti. :)

Musician

Music has carried me far in life! In college I played in the university's concert band, marching band, and basketball band. I'll never forget traveling and playing at football bowl games, the NCAA Basketball Tournaments, etc. After college, I continued playing in a few community bands here and there just for fun. In 2011, I bought a flute and started to teach myself how to play. Music contributed more toward who I am these days than nearly any other singe subject. It's a part of me!